Monday, July 4, 2016

UCAAN Change a Life Road Trip - Day #19 - July 4th, 2016

Day #19 - Clarksville, TN to Chattanooga, TN to Lawrenceville, GA 


We left a little earlier than planned and stopped by White Castle for a light breakfast as we had plans to have lunch with some dear friends of mine, who had lost family to cancer and had family members who had cancer and survived. I hadn’t seen them in quite a while so I was looking forward to it. The drive to Chattanooga was one with a freeway filled with lush green trees on both sides of the road. We passed this beauty for over a hundred miles and drove through numerous small towns and even through Nashville. When we were about 74 miles from Chattanooga, we let Daria know so she and her husband David could meet us at the restaurant Aretha Frankenstein’s, a retro and hip little restaurant in a small blue house on a little residential block. 

We got there a little early and headed in to grab a table. The restaurant was filled with decorations galore – framed pictures of cereal boxes filled the ceilings, with box tops of C-3PO cereal, Mr. T Cereal, Jets & Moonstone to name a few. The rest of the place was filled with different band flyers and other eclectic decorations included a skeleton on a surfboard hanging above that was turned into a chandelier of sorts.
When they arrived we all ordered our food and talked. Our meal was delicious – Doryn and I ordered BLT’s (they were missing mayo) and Daria & David both ordered breakfast. We talked throughout lunch about their recent move to Tennessee and how much cheaper it was to live there. We talked about the trip and some of our favorite places to visit and how we were changing lives of cancer patients nationwide. We talked until we were done and then headed outside for photos! It was a wonderful day spending time with my old friends.

After lunch Doryn and I were on the road and on our way to Lawrenceville, GA. As we drove, something hit me…. We needed to get gas prior to leaving Chattanooga…. Oh NO! I asked Doryn about the gas and he said it was on empty. He was a little nervous about getting stuck on the side of the road but I reassured him everything would be okay. I quickly found the next gas station and then directed him to it so we could get some gas!! That was a close call!

As quick as we were off the freeway, we were back on… headed to our 
hotel. Soon enough we had arrived at the Crossroads Economy Studios, which were hidden off the main road, down a small tree filled driveway, which was hard to spot. As we took the driveway we saw they large house like building ahead of us, we drove around the 4 buildings to find the lobby. As we arrived, we found a note on the front lobby door saying they’d return in 15 minutes. We waited till the attendant returned. Once he did, we quickly got our key and headed to our room. The room was nice with a large flat screen, bathroom, recliner, 2 tables, and a queen bed with kitchenette – including a microwave, fridge and stovetop with sink. We unloaded our car, relaxed for a bit and then headed out for dinner. We went out to Cracker Barrel, a place I had always heard about, but never tried. It was so much fun checking out the “Country Store” and just looking around. As soon as I walked in, I saw the display of organic, all natural products including the ones made of Goat’s milk. I was ecstatic and picked out some lotion and a lip balm. J Gotta love all natural products!!

After walking around we headed to the restaurant portion of Cracker Barrel, sat down and ordered our meal. They were quick and the meal was delicious! We ended the evening outside, watching the fireworks from the parking lot. We headed back to our room afterwards and we’re off to bed… till tomorrow!

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